Pre-budget jitters cause cost of government debt to creep higher
Date: 2024-10-29PRE-BUDGET jitters have caused the cost of government debt to creep higher.
The rise comes despite the Chancellor desperately hoping to avoid a repeat of the meltdown that followed Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini Budget in 2022.
Donald Trump served up fries at McDonald’s last week[/caption]
It called out the UK as one of its most difficult markets.
Chris Kempczinski, chief executive, highlighted the success of its “three for £3 menu†but admitted growth in the US had been disrupted by an E.coli outbreak linked to its quarterpounder burgers.
He said it had reintroduced quarterpounders but it would have to “restore confidenceâ€.
BP PROFIT SLIDE
BP posted £1.75billion in profits for the three months to September yesterday — its lowest level in four years.
The company said it had been hit by lower refining margins.
New boss Murray Auchincloss has said he will focus on high profit margin businesses, in contrast to his predecessor Bernard Looney’s strategy to grow BP’s cash-hungry renewables side.
Despite war in the Middle East, oil prices have dropped to around $71 due to falling demand in China and a glut of oil production.
‘NO HSBC SPLIT’
THE boss of HSBC yesterday denied separating the bank into eastern and western divisions will lead to a full split.
HSBC has been hit by the Chinese economic slowdown and tensions between Beijing and the US. Georges Elhedery said his shake-up would make the bank more “agile†and was not an “intent to splitâ€.
Senior managers will be cut.
Pre-tax profits increased by £600million to £5.9billion in the past three months.
Shares rose four per cent on news of a fresh £2.3billion share buyback to sweeten investors.
‘£1BN HIT’ IS BRAKE ON BANK
A POTENTIAL billion pound hit from the motor insurance mis-selling scandal has prompted the UK arm of Santander to delay results.
The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that car finance firms should not get commission from lenders without drivers’ permission first.
Analysts think Santander could face a £1.1billion bill.
The Spanish bank yesterday said that while it expected the judgment to be appealed, it would have to consider the costs of the potential damaging exposure.
Santander shares dropped by as much as 3 per cent yesterday, a day after shares in car finance rivals LLOYDS and CLOSE BROTHERS were hit.
Analysts reckon the decision could pave the way for as much as £16billion in compensation payments from British lenders and liken it to PPI 2.0 – a new version of the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.
BRITS are cashing in shares amid worries of a Budget tax raid.
Top stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown said its customers have £12.7billion of cash in its accounts, £300million more than early in the summer.
LOANS ON HOME RUN
THE number of home loans approved in September hit the highest level since the month before the 2022 mini Budget.
Bank of England stats show mortgage approvals for new purchases rose by 700 to 65,600 — the fourth monthly increase in a row.
It is the highest since August 2022, the month before mortgage rates soared.
The Bank said the effective mortgage rate in September dipped on new loans from 4.8 per cent to 4.7 per cent.
